


Simple Questions

by soulioli



Category: Persona 3, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Moving In Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25454476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulioli/pseuds/soulioli
Summary: #39 - "Wait, are you saying you want to move in with me?"Or: Makoto's got a question to ask. It's just a matter of actually getting the words out.
Relationships: Amada Ken/Niijima Makoto
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Simple Questions

Makoto Niijima moved through life making lists. 

Some were longer than others; some had bigger tasks than others. Some reminded her to switch her laundry over; some listed her life goals. 

The particular list she was staring down now had several things checked off. It was more of a "natural" list than anything else. After she got the ball rolling, the rest of the things would come naturally. 

First on the list: get a boyfriend. 

That was already crossed out; it had been for 3 or 4 years. Her eyes started to travel down the list when her phone screen lit up, exposing the object of her thoughts to the average onlooker. Her lockscreen was a photo of two people - herself, and her boyfriend, Ken. He was  _ pretty _ , for lack of a better term. (That lack of a better term could have been because of her bias, but she thought it was likely that it was the subjective opinion of many.) Her boyfriend had sideswept brown hair that seemed styled, brown eyes, and a smile that she swore would kill her someday. He was taller than her and had a build that arguably leaned to the more thin side of the spectrum, but held power. It was a silent, creeping power - if Makoto didn’t already intimidate you, he would with a glare or two. 

It was the perfect storm, and would have been even earlier if not for the fact that neither of them had known how to voice their attraction to the other. That was actually where the picture came from; some of his senpai and her friends had gotten together in the background and planned the perfect scene. It was right under the stars, in front of a fountain surrounded by flowers. There was just enough natural light to get a picture. She was in a dress; he was dressed to perfection. It was the perfect moment. 

Perfect until they’d fallen into the fountain, of course. She tripped, he tried to catch her, and both of them went into the fountain. The resulting picture of them was the two of them laughing in front of the fountain, soaked to the bone. Her makeup was running, and he was disheveled, but it was the perfect picture. Even without her thinking about what had happened afterward, it was her favorite picture. It conveyed a pure joy that she couldn’t replicate. Makoto probably looked like a disaster in that image, but she was also the happiest she had ever seen herself. 

And if she were being honest, she wanted to be that happy forever. Makoto had long since gotten past the point of trying to deny her feelings on any matter; especially this one. As embarassing as it felt to say, she was sure that her boyfriend was the  _ one.  _ It was such a silly thing to be sure of as a young adult, but it felt  _ right _ to her in the same way that her career choice did. 

So she was sure that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him; there was just one problem. That wasn't the next thing on the list. No, instead of that, a sentence stared back, threatening to overwhelm her.

**Move in with him.**

The university student stared back at it with a small sigh. In theory, that was easy. It was just one statement. 5 words. 7 syllables. 22 letters. 28 characters. But to Makoto, it felt insurmountable. What if she was moving too fast? What if he was uncomfortable with that and it caused the downfall of their relationship? What if she was just being a rabbid girlfriend? 

The what-ifs were overwhelming, but followed by nicer thoughts. If this worked out, life would be better. She would get to wake up next to him every morning. Sure, she woke up next to him  _ some _ mornings, but some of those made a flush creep down her neck at the mention. ( _ But he looks really good like that, _ a part of her pouted. She shoved it down into a box and slammed the lid shut.) 

If she moved in with him, though, she would get to wake up next to him  _ every _ morning. She would see him in the spaces between classes, and at dinners. They could do  _ chores _ together. If you had told her she would look forward to doing chores someday when she was still in high school, she probably would have socked you in the face. Nowadays, the thought just caused her to put her face in her hands and hide it from the prying eyes of the words on the paper. 

If Makoto were telling the truth, she really missed having company. Being alone in an apartment made her feel lonely sometimes, even if both her sister and boyfriend came to visit. Being with someone just sounded nice. It sounded more than nice, actually. 

She splayed her fingers so that she could peek down at the words on the paper, red irises focusing on the sentence that had been staring at her all this time. With eyes that were as red as her cheeks, she stared back. Eventually, a whimper surfaced and she collapsed back into her desk chair, eyes turned toward the ceiling. 

"I'm so screwed…."

* * *

The next time she thought about it, she was standing in front of the door to his apartment, knuckles poised to knock. She moved them closer but hesitated, the motion interrupted by her getting flustered. Tonight was the night, she convinced herself. She had her books, a bag of ingredients for a meal, and a change of clothes shoved down into the furthest parts of her bag. 

Tonight, she was going to ask her boyfriend if she could move in with him. 

It was just common sense, she thought, knocking at last. Ken's apartment felt more home-y, it was closer to important buildings,  _ and  _ had less strict rules than her own. It just made sense. That still didn't help the anxiety that welled up when he opened the door, though. 

Standing at near 6 feet, Ken Amada had more than a couple inches on Makoto, but he didn't seem imposing as he smiled at her. She fought down a blush as she greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. The blush won out in the end, surfacing with a new thought.

_ It's just a kiss on the cheek! Are you going to blush like a schoolgirl forever?  _ Makoto considered the question before capturing it and locking it in a cage. It's key was a simple answer, wielded by the young woman herself. Yes. She was going to blush like a schoolgirl forever. 

He stared at her for a moment with a smile, flush so light that she was sure it was a trick of the light for a second. It wasn't, though, so she just lifted the bag with the ingredients as a way of greeting. "Delivery,"

Ken accepted the bag from her, peering inside as he walked further into his apartment. He left Makoto to trail behind him, nearly short circuiting because of her thoughts. 

_ That would have been even better if you had moved in already _ , she thought.  _ He could have greeted you with "welcome home."  _

Before she could tackle that little thought, her boyfriend's voice brought her out of her thoughts, floating in from the kitchen. 

"Oh, you got what I asked for! Thanks." he said, already standing at the counter. "I'll pay you back," 

"There's no need," she replied, moving to a room where she could set her bags down. "Just consider us even." 

"Are we ever even?" He asked, headed to the kitchen. She sat her own things in the living room, laughing quietly. 

"Not really." 

"I figured. Are you going to help with dinner?" 

"Someone's impatient," she teased, headed back into the kitchen. "Did you miss me that much?" 

Makoto was lucky enough to catch the way a pink hue crept down his neck as she stepped into the room. "Well, no one said that," 

"So you  _ didn't _ miss me?" 

"I did! You just ask unfair questions," he complained. Makoto lingered in the doorway as he sliced some beef, content to just watch him for a minute. While Ken was nowhere near the cooking prowess of his former guardian, he had a leg up on Makoto in that department. They were both able to cook decently well, though, so making meals was commonplace. 

Tonight it looked different. She realized how fun it was to cook with him; how she looked forward to it. It brought forward a different side to each of them, but left just enough wiggle room to ensure that she could still keep an easy banter going. She wondered if living together would make that feel different as she stared at him, heat slowly taking over her face. Would everything feel different? Or was she just fantasizing?

"Do I have something on my face?" He asked, startling her out of her pondering. Makoto's flush spread to her ears as he realized he had noticed that she was staring. 

_ Stay calm. You can do this.  _ "No, you just look really nice like that." She said finally. 

He looked down at himself as if to ask her a question. His outfit wasn't anything special, just a t-shirt, sweatpants, and socks. even his hair was a little bit messy, but he still looked…..good. Great, even. 

_ I think the word you're looking for is domestic.  _ Part of her drawled. She mentally glared at it until it withered up and died. "I do? Well, thank you, but I don't think I'm doing anything special tonight." 

A little bit of red rose to his cheeks as he spoke, turning back to the beef. Makoto's plan went out the window. She had the sneaking suspicion that this was what Futaba referred to as a "critical hit."

"You just do," she mumbled, moving to help him. They were silent for a minute, but began to chat idly as they prepared and began to eat the meal together. She didn't start thinking again until they were eating in silence, peering at him curiously. 

_ Soon you'll be able to do this every night. All the time.  _ A part of her mind pointed out. She shoved the thought into a closet and shut the door, hissing at it to be quiet. Makoto's eyes dropped to her plate again, only looking back up when Ken spoke. 

"Are you feeling okay?" 

Ken was staring at her with a concerned expression, frowning to himself. "You look a little warm…" 

"I'm fine," she lied, smiling at him. "Did anything else that's interesting happen today?" 

"Well, I got a text from Junpei-san…"

* * *

A little while passed before she thought about asking him. Dinner had been finished for a little while now, and they were both studying in a peaceful silence. It was one of the things she liked about Ken; while they tried to make time to go on dates often, she knew that he was perfectly content to just study with her. It was really nice. 

_ You could make it even nicer. Maybe do this every night.  _ She suggested to herself. Her pencil paused in it's steady movement at the thought, eyes flickering to her boyfriend. He was currently staring at the book in his lap, writing things down that interested as he read. Ken seemed invested, displaying an intense level of focus. Makoto tried to not stare, but heat yet again rose to her face as her brain supplied one word. 

_ Cute.  _

It was a moment before he looked up at her, focus broken as she just...sat there. He really was cute like that, wasn't he? God, she wanted the ground to swallow her whole just  _ imagining  _ the teasing she would be recieving if her friends saw this. What kind of cheesy manga world was she living in? 

Her inner rambling was broken as the sound of his voice reached her ears, concern evident. "Makoto?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" He asked, frowning at her. Ken reached over and touched her forehead, frown deepening when he didn't feel a fever. "You don't have a fever, but maybe we should stop for tonight." 

"I-I'm fine! Let's just get back to it." 

"If you say so," he nodded, going back to his books. Makoto suddenly found it incredibly hard to study, noting just how close they were on the couch. 

_ I really need together. Come on, just say something! Anything!  _

Despite the urgency she felt, the silence stretched on. Makoto went through a mental list of sentences before finally coming to one that was reasonable. 

"I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't go home tonight," She said finally. It was a stupid sentence to settle on, but it was the only thing she could even think of.

"Oh, that's fine," he said, looking down to his book. "You shouldn't go out if you're catching a cold, anyway." 

_ Oh, for the love of-  _ "N-Not just tonight. Maybe I shouldn't go home again." 

He looked back at her and stared for a minute, flush creeping onto his face as he considered what she was saying. 

"Wait, are you saying you want to move in with me?" 

"Yes! I mean, no. I - I mean! Yes! I think it would be more beneficial for the both of us, and…" She collapsed against his shoulder. "Forget I said anything." 

"Do you really want me to forget?" He asked, lip quirked. 

"....No." she mumbled. 

"Hm," he seemed to think about it for a second, staring down at the book as if it would answer him. Apparently, it did, because he nodded his head once before replying. "Let's try it, then." 

"Huh?" 

"Let's try it," he smiled. "We've spent nights together before, so….." 

She lifted her head up to glare at him, face hot. "Don't bring  _ that _ up! This is a serious conversation!" 

"What do you- no! That is  _ not _ what I meant!" He objected, flush matching her own.

They looked at each other for a moment before breaking out into laughter. 

Once their laughter quieted, Makoto shut her eyes, basking in the feeling of just being next to her other half. It was a cheesy phrase, sure, but it felt accurate. Even though Ken was a little bit dense at some points, he understood her and loved her. He didn't see her as someone who was one thing or another. She didn't need to change. To him, she was just Makoto and that was what mattered. 

As her hand closed over his, the rest of the list didn't seem like so much. It felt doable.

"You're really okay with me moving in?" 

He adjusted their sitting position so that he could place a kiss on the top of her head. Butterflies took off at the contact. 

"Of course I am. I think it'll be fun, and the company will be nice," he murmured. 

She let out an affirmative hum. "We should probably get back to studying, though." 

"Do you really want to study after making a big life decision?" 

"Not really…." 

He adjusted his arms around her so that they were sitting comfortably. "I should go do dishes," he mumured after a while. 

"I should study. Let's just call it even," she yawned. 

He yawned, too. "You're unfair." 

His only response was a hum as Makoto shut her eyes and let herself drift off. 

Staying like this was something she _ definitely  _ didn't mind. 

**Author's Note:**

> (insert the self deprecating "she wrote more than one thing this month!" joke here)   
> I clown on her, but I really like Makoto! she tries her best. I just wish the fandom didn't make her into a mom friend/social guru, cause she's the least socially capable in the phantom thieves (disregarding futaba and yusuke ofc).   
> This fic is basically just "Makoto being hopelessly in love with her bf for 2500 words" and I will *not* apologize. I blame Ace In the Hole for making me ship these two!! They're adorable.   
> Other than that, this is pretty much compliant with whatever verse you want it to be (I didn't write it with a specific one in mind). I'm sorry if Ken also seems a little off or dry; Makoto is just a disaster. I promise you he's yelling on the inside.   
> Anyway, ignore the potentially janky parts, this was entirely written and published on my phone cause I'm sick!  
> That's all for now! If you want more to read, I highly recommend Ace In The Hole. You can also read my fics! Support is highly appreciated. Thank you for reading!!


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